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Ukraine: Russians bomb and try to invade Azofstal, says Zelensky’s adviser

LAST UPDATE: 16:06

Russian forces have continued airstrikes and are trying to invade the Azovstal steel plant, where the remaining Ukrainian forces are resisting in Mariupol, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said on Saturday.

“The enemy is trying to stifle the latest attempt by Mariupol defenders to resist in the Azofstal area,” Arestovic told national television.

In the other big city of southern Ukraine, Odessa, a rocket hit infrastructure, local authorities said in an online post, without giving further details. “Odessa was hit by a rocket attack. Infrastructure was hit,” they said.

At the same time, a new attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, much of which is controlled by the Russian army, was planned for today, said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verestsuk.

Russian attacks on Donbas intensify

All Ukrainian-controlled cities in the eastern region of Luhansk are under constant bombardment by Russian forces and the pounding is intensifying, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said on television.

He said Ukrainian forces were leaving some settlements to rebuild but that the move was not a major blow.

An artillery shelling in the Luhansk city of Zolote killed two people and injured two others.

At the same time, Russia claims that it shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet and destroyed three MI-8 helicopters at an airport in the Kharkiv region, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Russian army units have taken up various positions and are fortifying themselves in them in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement from the Ukrainian General Staff late last night.

In the past 24 hours, Russian forces have attacked the town of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region, while gaining ground in Lozova, a small town but a major railway junction in the Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian generals.

According to the same source, Russian forces are expanding their positions and preparing for new attacks in Selena Dalina in the Donetsk region and in the Crimea, in the Lugansk region, 40 km east, which they took over a few days ago.

They may also have been based in Stephen, in the Donetsk region, during the Ukrainian General Staff.

Ukrainian forces were able to repel attacks in the Luhansk region – 80% of which is said to have fallen to the Russians -, in Rubysne and in the village of Novotoskivsk.

In Mariupol, Russian forces continue air strikes and blockade of the Azovstal steel plant, always according to the staff.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, there are about 44,000 troops in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The Russian army and separatists are estimated to have deployed up to 80,000 men there.

Russia’s goal is believed to be to encircle Ukrainian army units in Donbas.

Britain: Russia has not had significant territorial gains in the last 24 hours

Russian forces have not made significant territorial gains in the past 24 hours despite increased military activity, as Ukrainian counterattacks continue to hamper their efforts, the British military intelligence service said on Saturday.

Despite Russia’s alleged takeover of the port city of Mariupol, heavy fighting continues to thwart Moscow’s efforts to seize the city, impeding its progress in the Donbas region, the defense ministry said in a regular Twitter post.

Russia’s air and naval forces do not have full control over either region because of the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air and naval defenses, he said.

Source: Capital

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